Abstract
Migration is a paradox: it can bring economic benefits to both migrants and host countries, but it remains an emotive and contentious issue.
Traditionally, economists use Gross Domestic Product to measure the impact of migration on economies and conclude that overall, it has small positive effects. But GDP does not include all the things that people care about when trying to lead a life that they value.
Julie Fry and Peter Wilson have developed a comprehensive new framework that examines the impact of migration on the wellbeing of New Zealanders. It allows a wider range of factors to be used to judge alternative policies, like environmental sustainability, social cohesion and the effect of migration on distribution. Their goal? Migration policy that does the right thing for the right reasons.
Their book Better Lives: Migration, Wellbeing and New Zealand will be published by Bridget Williams Books on 9 April.
Pre-order a signed copy of the book:
https://theopenbook.co.nz/products/better-lives (choose ‘event pickup’)
Find out more:
http://bwb.co.nz/books/better-lives
About the presenters
Julie Fry is a consulting economist who currently divides her time between New York and New Zealand. She has worked on migration policy issues since the early 1990s, designing programmes and advising agencies including the Treasury, MBIE, Te Puni Kōkiri, and HM Treasury in London.
Peter Wilson is a Principal Economist and Head of Auckland Business at the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research. He has spent over thirty years in government, the private sector and as a consultant applying the tools of economics to help people live the lives they value and have reason to value.